On November 27th, 2020, Sportsnet posted a round-table of sports to which Edmonton legend Gene Principe and Calgary hockey pundit Ryan Leslie joined Sean Reynolds and Dan Murphy to talk about the Stanley Cup windows for each of the Western Canadian NHL franchises.
Here’s what they had to say,
Gene Principe on the Oilers’ window,
“When you’ve got two of the games greatest talents, I think the window is always open, but sometimes when they don’t achieve the kind of success they’re supposed to, it feels a little more closed that it should be. I mean, their prime players are still in their early in to their mid-twenties and so Edmonton’s window should feel like it’s wide open and they could have, I’m not saying of winning or being in the Stanley Cup final but about a ten year run where they should a good-to-very good team challenging for the Cup. But as you guys know, whether it’s Calgary, Vancouver, Winnipeg, it’s tough to find success every year. So Edmonton’s hoping this year that window’s opening up more and more.”
I’m not sure if the Oilers will have a decade of team success on the horizon as Mr. Principe suggests. Hell, I’m not even sure if Edmonton’s window has even opened yet as the defence is just starting to come along and the club hasn’t found the goalkeeper that will take them into that said window.
This shortened season is of the utmost importance. The Edmonton Oilers cannot afford to take a step back here or else~ Well, put it this way, if you thought the media was rough on all those former GMs during the decade of darkness? That’ll look like a stroll at the park compared to what it’ll look like when Mark Spector, Terry Jones, Jim Matheson, and the likes sink their teeth in…
However, the way that Holland has built this season’s team (skill-heavy on forward), it looks like it will be competing for 1st place in the Canadian Division, and the team most likely to make it to the Conference final.
As for Calgary’s window, Ryan Leslie had these comments,
“I think the window’s very much open. When you look at the additions they’ve made… Those additions mean they’re all-in. Not to suggest that it hasn’t been all-in in the past but they haven’t been able to land a goaltender and goaltending hasn’t necessarily been the problem in the post-season. They gotta take a step, they gotta prove to themselves that Brad Treliving’s trying to take away all the excuses as to why they cannot have success; get out of the first round, move on, win and advance. They haven’t been able to do it but they feel they’ve got a no.1 goalie, one of the best free-agent goaltenders available. They feel they added a solid veteran presence on the blueline in Chris Tanev. They also feel they’re young players are ready to take a step and they’re core, if you will, has to get the job done. I think the pressure is on now, which means you could drive a zamboni through the window. It’s time in Calgary.”
As much as I truly dislike the Flames, you have to respect the work Brad Treliving has done. The team has depth at nearly every position, but the problem is that the collective effort that gets them through the regular season, it falls apart once the playoffs start. There are usually a handful of individuals on the team that absolutely shine like Sam Bennett, Johnny Gaudreau or Cam Talbot have in the past, but the rest of the club simply loses their mojo… That’s what needs to be fixed.
My feeling is that Calgary’s window is closing whilst Edmonton’s might be just opening up.
The Flames could find a way to re-open theirs with a trade or a signing though. I mean, if they deal Gaudreau for a top-4 defenceman like Cam Fowler or if Treliving can swing a deal for a star like Aaron Ekblad, that might just pop their window back open…
Then again, Edmonton is going to be in a very advantageous position next summer with nearly $30M in cap space and their MVP-duo right in their primes. It’ll be go-time for them in a year.
In the event that hockey comes back at some point, this race between the two Albertan franchises is going to be so much fun to watch over the next five years or so.
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